"I am the swift and terrible sword of justice. I am the headsman of the gods. I am the blazing fires of condemnation. I am judgment. I am wrath. I am vengeance."

- Excerpt from the "Chronicles of the Light Sworn". Author unknown.

 

I've always loved the Vengeance Paladin. It's a great subclass with great themes and abilities. But whenever I'm actually playing one, I've always found it a bit lacking in terms of abilities and combat features. At least in comparison to the other Sacred Oaths.

So, I've decided to try my hand at making a revised version of it. For the most part, all of it's abilities are the same, albeit tweaked to lean more heavily on its themes. And in combat you are a much more effective/formidable force. But this is not an overhaul. Just consider this a variant option for all those DMs and players that love this subclass, but have been disappointed by its fairly limited abilities.

Channel Divinity

When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.

Condemn. Under your vengeful gaze, the full weight of their sin comes crashing down upon them. As an action, you reveal your holy symbol to one creature within 60ft. of you that can also see you. That creature must make a Wisdom Saving Throw. Creatures of any evil alignment have disadvantage on their saving throw, creatures of any good alignment have advantage on their save, and unaligned creatures are immune to this effect.

On a failed save the creature’s speed becomes 0, and it doesn't gain any benefit from any bonuses to its speed for one minute. The creature cannot move any farther away from you, and it also can’t take reactions. At the end of the creature's turn, they can repeat the saving throw.

On a successful save, their speed is only halved for one minute.

Righteous Fury. As a bonus action, you unleash the full might of your zealous ferocity against a creature you can see within 30 feet of you, using your Channel Divinity. You gain advantage on attack rolls against the creature until it drops to 0 hit points or you fall unconscious.

Oath Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

Oath of Vengeance Spells

Paladin Level	Spells
3rd	bane, hunter’s mark
5th	hold person, misty step
9th	haste, protection from energy
13th	banishment, dimension door
17th	hold monster, scrying

Aura of Judgement

Beginning at 7th level, evil doers quake in your presence; for you are a vessel of punishment and wrath. You emanate a scornful aura while you’re not incapacitated. The aura extends 10 feet from you in every direction, but not through total cover. Whenever an evil aligned creature starts it’s turn in your aura, and is also under the effect of your Condemn Channel Divinity, they take an amount of radiant damage equal to your Paladin Level. 
Additionally, you instantly become aware of a creature’s alignment while they are within your aura, and you automatically succeed on any attempt to perceive whether you are hearing a lie.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet

Relentless Avenger

At 15th level, your supernatural focus helps you close off a foe’s retreat. Whenever you make an opportunity attack against a creature, you can move up to your speed immediately after the attack as part of the same reaction. This movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks.

Additionally, the fervor of your Righteous Fury Channel Divinity, grants you greater power over your foes. When a creature under the effect of your Righteous Fury Channel Divinity makes an attack, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against that creature if it is within range. Also, whenever a creature under the effects of your Righteous Fury forces you to make a Saving Throw, you roll with advantage.

Angel of Vengeance

At 20th level, you can assume the form of an angelic avenger. Using your action, you undergo a transformation. For 1 hour, you gain the following benefits:

• Wings sprout from your back and grant you a flying speed of 120 feet.
• You emanate an aura of menace in a 30-foot radius. The first time any enemy creature enters the aura or starts its turn there during a battle, the creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC or become frightened of you for the duration of your transformation. Attack rolls against a creature frightened by this ability, are made at advantage.

• Whenever you Hit an evil creature with a weapon attack, you deal an extra amount of radiant damage equal to your Charisma modifier.

  Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.